


Swing It

by 1848pianist



Series: Some Heroes Do Wear Capes: Assorted Drabbles in the Marvel Fandom [10]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Bisexual Steve Rogers, Established Relationship, Families of Choice, Gen, Nonbinary Character, Post-Canon, Queerplatonic Relationships, Swing Dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-06
Updated: 2015-08-06
Packaged: 2018-04-13 08:31:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4515027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1848pianist/pseuds/1848pianist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve is bored: discovers electric swing, dance lessons. Roommate dance-offs ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swing It

**Author's Note:**

  * For [toxicbalance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/toxicbalance/gifts).



It’s a rainy, dreary day, the kind that invokes boredom and a kind of lazy energy at once. It doesn’t take long for Steve to give up on the book he’s been staring at and go in search of his roommates.

He finds Sam in his room, surrounded by a stack of CDs and old records.

“Quite a collection,” he remarks, leaning against the door frame.

Sam looks up, grinning. “Yeah, before I switched to electronics only I thought CDs were gonna last forever.” He laughs. “Want to help me sort them?”

“Sure.” Not like there’s anything better to do. None of them have had a mission this week, and in weather like this leaving the apartment would only result in a soaking.

He settles in on the floor, picking up the nearest stack. “What are we doing, by genre?”

“I figured. Good luck deciding the difference between some of them, though.”

Movie soundtracks, classic rock, jazz, classical: Sam really does have quite the collection.

“This looks interesting,” Steve says, holding up a “Best of Swing” set.

“You would like that, old man,” Sam teases. “Yeah, Riley really liked that stuff.”

“This his?” Steve asks, voice a little quieter.

Sam shakes his head. “Got me hooked. I bought it when I got back.”

“Mind if I borrow it?”

“Go ahead.” He grins wickedly. “Relive your childhood.”

Steve rolls his eyes, smiling.

“Here,” Sam holds up a CD in a blank case. “You’ve at least got to try this.”

“What is it?”

“Electric swing mix. Welcome to the 21st century, Cap.”

*

Later that afternoon, Steve finds the single CD player left in the apartment and plugs it into the living room wall. He debates which CD to play first, then decides on Sam’s mix. So far, Sam Wilson has had good taste.

“What is that?” Natasha’s voice comes from behind him.

“It’s a CD player,” he says.

“I see that,” she says. “What are you doing with it, I should have asked.”

“Playing this,” he replies, handing her the handwritten list of tracks. “At Sam’s recommendation.”

“In that case,” she says.

He presses play, listening to the first-familiar music, then as it changes to modern vocals with an added drumbeat.

“Well?” she asks, the corners of her mouth turning up.

“Well what?”

“Aren’t you going to dance?”

Steve shrugs. “I don’t know how. Not to this, at least.”

“Lucky for you. I do.” She steps closer. “Put your feet opposite mine.”

Steve does, and they start the complicated steps half-time. He’s good at picking up moves – he should be, after all his training – but dancing was never his strongest suite. Natasha is good at it, though, and clearly enjoying watching Steve fumble with the fast rhythm.

At the start of a particularly upbeat tune, Natasha leaves Steve to figure it out for himself, improvising her way through the song. She blends the old and new styles effortlessly, as though she’s trained for it. Steve, to his credit, just manages to keep up.

“Um. What’s going on?” Bucky is standing in the doorway, their expression amused.

“Free swing dance lessons?” Steve offers, glancing at Natasha with a grin.

“Nope. I’m on break. He’s all yours,” she says to Bucky, clapping them on the shoulder as she steps out.

“May I have this dance?” Steve jokes.

Bucky snorts quietly. “You’re on, Rogers.”

“Oh, that’s how it is?”

“That’s how it is.”

Lucky for them both, the next song is more swing than electric. The old steps come to Steve’s head nearly immediately, and Bucky falls easily into the basic box step. As the song increases in speed and intensity, Bucky nudges Steve towards the more complicated moves, their eyes bright with excitement.

“I missed this,” Steve says.

Bucky offers a lopsided grin. “I did too.”

The longer they dance, the more confident they become, trying ridiculous steps that end in disaster, hilarious if not graceful. Bucky pulls Steve to his feet at least twice after a miscalculated maneuver.

Natasha returns in the middle of a high-speed song that is only vaguely inspired by swing, dragging Sam along for a real roommate dance party. Laughing, Sam leans on Bucky’s shoulder as Steve thoroughly embarrasses himself learning any dance steps popularized after the 60s.

“Don’t worry, Steve,” Natasha teases. “They won’t kick you off the Avengers – Sam and I have enough dance skills to cover you.”

“Hear, hear,” Sam says, raising an empty glass that had been left on the coffee table.

“Come on,” Natasha says, holding up her iPod. “Call Peggy and Angie. It’s dance-off time.”

**Author's Note:**

> Whooo! Second fic in two days! I'm on fire!


End file.
